There are few things more exciting than fighters that fans know can be knocked down going into a big fight.

There is one thing though.

Knowing they get back up.

This Saturday on Las Vegas (HBO PPV, 9 PM EST/PST), a pair of proven hearts will step to ring center for a belt, the championship of each other, and a safe place as the next best Welterweight in the world after Floyd Mayweather. Both have been through bumps in the road and still to some degree fight in the shadow of a bigger superstar.

The shadow of Pacquiao is at least there in common results against the man. Bradley got a ton of grief for getting a decision many thought he didn’t deserve in 2012. Marquez, always a good puncher, landed the A+ shot of a lifetime against Pacquiao at the end of the same year. Since that bout, Marquez has laid in wait while Bradley got himself in what might still be the 2013 Fight of the Year with Ruslan Provodnikov.

Bradley showed a lot of what makes him good in that fight. He showed courage, boxing ability, and speed. He also showed vulnerability. Bradley, who can sometimes come wide with his shots, was caught between and dragged into a brutal affair. Provodnikov doesn’t have the speed or precision of Marquez but he showed the patience to wait for opportunities.

Marquez can be a lethally patient man. Arguably the game’s best offensive counter puncher, Marquez is always in position and throws a technically beautiful array of punches. His jab, left hook, right hand, and uppercut, are all thrown as if delivered from an instruction manual. As he has aged, he’s been hit more but it’s a product of conserving his legs and confidence in his ability.

The bane of Marquez’s existence over the years has been purer boxers. Win (versus Derek Gainer) or lose (as he did close to Freddie Norwood and Chris John and lopsided to Mayweather), it doesn’t matter. He doesn’t look as good as he does when defusing bombs.

A big exception was his fight with Joel Casamayor on the night he won the Lightweight title. Casamayor was a fine boxer but he, like Marquez, looked to engage while boxing and that created a fantastic fight.

Bradley’s best chance in this fight might be to try and box, even if the result draws some boos. He’s shown he can, winning ugly against Devon Alexander and Luis Abregu. It’s not his common, or best, form. The best Bradley is sort of a mesh of boxer and brawler. He’s not a tall man so he stays in range, uses his jab, and works combos. He overwhelmed Lamont Peterson that way, outworked Junior Witter, and kept the rounds close with Pacquiao. Against Kendall Holt, he came off the floor twice, early and late, and just flat outhustled him.

Both men have shown the whiskers. Marquez’s career is dotted with knockdowns but he’s never been stopped. The same is true of Bradley. Of the two, it can be said he has appeared more often a genuinely injured man when dropped. That is a possibly a result of the way he presses.

Bradley likes to engage. Inactivity and a couple blah nights obscured for a while what the sum total of his career has exhibited. They haven’t all been like the Provodnikov war, but there have been more than enough Peterson nights to describe his ring character.

Can he win a fight where he stays in range of Marquez and engages?

The Pick

The thinking here is probably not. Bradley struggled to survive Provodnikov and has admitted to lingering affects. Marquez is smaller than Provodnikov but more complete. As has been noted by this scribe before, he’s the answer to what might have been if Ricardo Lopez had been born a bigger man. They are similar fighters of similar longevity. Even at 40, Marquez appears to still have some game and is in tremendous shape. The motivation to become the first Mexican to win belts in five weight classes will matter to him. His precision will eventually be too much because Bradley will ultimately engage. That favors the Mexican legend strongly. The pick is Marquez on a late stoppage in a fight that might be uglier than expected in spots but still fulfilling at night’s end.

Report Card Picks 2013: 40-22

Cliff Rold is a member of the Ring Magazine Ratings Advisory Panel, the Yahoo Pound for Pound voting panel, and the Boxing Writers Association of America. He can be reached at roldboxing@hotmail.com

Marquez deserved fighting Bradley more than Bradley deserved fighting Marquez. Since Vegas gave Bradley the title after Pacquiao beat his azz for most of 12 rounds, he was destroyed by Provo, and Vegas insisted on keeping the belt with Bradley; two (2) screw jobs by the Nevada Boxing Commission. ...

I know it's a sensitive subject but it has to be raised, I think -- Bradley's people must insist on Marquez being rigorously tested before the fight -- too many red flags in his fight vs Manny -- the Incredible Hulk physique which he never had, even in his prime years, the devastating one punch K...

Bradley's success has been based on his unorthodox and versatile style -- his ability to modulate offense and defense in different ways throughout a fight -- he went away from that vs Ruslan and became more of a standup one-dimensional fighter and it almost cost him his title -- if he reverts to ...

Bradley still doesn't get any respect. Marquez's hopes for winning rely on Bradley being a shell of himself after the Ruslan fight. If there are no lingering effects, Marquez will get dominated. Can't wait to see it unfold.